Sumanto the cannibal as he is today, at residence in a Purbalingga pesantren.

Sumanto, born in 1972, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in 2003 after having been convicted of digging up the body of a relative who had just been laid to rest, and feasting on her remains. Sumanto appears to have believed eating human flesh would give him supernatural powers. He was given remissions while in prison, and released early, in 2006.

Since his release he has been living at an Islamic boarding school near the town of Purbalingga, where he hails from.

Intrepid British travellers Rhys and Ivan visited Sumanto there recently, and sent in to IM these happy snaps:

Rhys recounts that the scar on Sumanto's forehead is self inflicted, after many hours banging his head in prison on his cell wall in order to

punish his cellmates to stop them from being cruel

and says further that Sumanto appears to be a harmless fellow, his fame exploited by those around him for financial gain, while he is forced to sleep on a filthy mattress in a small outbuilding.

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Sumanto appears to be a harmless fellow, his fame exploited by those around him for financial gain, while he is forced to sleep on a filthy mattress in a small outbuilding.

Sumanto reportedly earned a cool Rp50 million (around $US5000 at the then exchange rate) from selling the rights for a movie of his story:
Where did all that money go, I wonder… Legal fees? Restitution to the victim’s family?